2021 Anglapro Core STL374 review

North Brisbane-based Anglapro is a maker of smaller alloy boats. Among its offerings is the Core STL range of tiller-steer vee-nose punts ranging in size from 3.5 metres to 3.9 metres.

The word “Core” could easily mean “basic”. That’s because the Anglapro Core STL series is meant to be a no-frills kicking-off point for anglers either just starting out with their first tinnie, or a blank canvas for seasoned anglers who will build the boat they want.

For this test, we’re jumping aboard the Anglapro Core STL374, the second-largest in the four-model Core STL line-up.

This boat is clearly aimed at the budget end of the market. Scouting around, you can find a boat, motor and single-axle unbraked galvanised trailer package built around the Anglapro Core STL374 for around $10,000.

Standard features on the Anglapro Core STL374 include two across-thwart seats filled with foam to help with flotation, a pair of rowlocks, a double boweye for a winch hook and a safety chain, a forward anchor locker under the bow, bow and stern carry handles, and a single transducer bracket.

Key options on our test boat include a carpeted plywood floor, a wide, carpeted forward casting platform that includes a central hatch to access the underfloor void, a tote tank rack, and rails along each side of the bow that include plates for mounting navigation lights.

Other options include a 500 gallon an hour bilge pump (its mount is fitted as standard, so you can BYO if you like), a rear casting platform, a bow-mounted bracket for an electric trolling motor, pre-wiring for electronics including the nav lights, fully welded side decks, rear side rails, and for those who don’t like the look of raw aluminium, a painted hull.

There are no rod holders included with the boat, and the lack of side pockets in our test boat – they are available as an option – means there’s nowhere but the floor in between the seats, and the forepeak anchor storage shelf, in which to stow gear.

There’s also no bow cleat, so the rode will need to attach to something else if you want to anchor up, such as the forward carry handle or internally via one of the laterals.

Anglapro provides a 12-month warranty for the Core STL374, extending it to 24 months if the boat sits on top of an Anglacore trailer. You can buy extended warranty coverage that will apply to the hull for 24 months, and a hull sitting on an Anglapro trailer for up to 60 months.

The Anglapro Core 374STL is basically a punt with a half-hearted vee up front. If you’ve ever heard a proper punt slap-slap-slapping through chop, you’ll appreciate that having some ability to cut through waves and soften the ride is welcomed.

The big benefit of this design is that it also adds a huge amount of stability at rest.

Helping stability at rest and on the move are a set of reverse chines running right from the bow in a lazy arc so that they don’t become horizontal until almost halfway along the hull’s length.

The section of the reverse chines running forward helps to deflect spray, while the bits running aft help to get the boat up on the plane and hold it steady once there.

Judging from the exposed welds around the Anglapro Core 374STL’s interior, this is clearly a boat built by hand – that’s an observation, not a criticism, as it’s done by someone who knows what they’re doing.

The Anglapro Core 374STL’s cross-thwart seats are generous to say the least. Each one is 420mm wide and sit 340mm high, and they run across the tinnie’s entire 1540mm internal beam. They’re welded into the hull rather than riveted.

Internally, the stringers are spaced every 300mm and welded into the chines and keel, with laterals extending up to the sidedecks. Internal freeboard is a generous 520mm.

The clinker-style sides are built from 1.6mm thick pressed aluminium panels, and the transom and bottoms from 2.0mm plate. The raw aluminium floor will flex a bit if you happen to accidentally stand directly on it.

The Anglapro Core 374STL is rated to use an outboard engine of up to 20hp, mounted to a stepped transom that is only 400mm high compared with the 740mm side depths.

The transom has extra strength built into it, with bracing on the transom corners at sidedeck height, and a vee of box-frame supports running down to the keel from either side of a pentagonal section in the middle that supports the outboard engine. It all looks a little messy.

Because of the extra reinforcement built into the keel to support the outboard engine, the Anglapro Core STL374 has two bung plugs rather than a single centre one.

Our test boat was fitted with a 15hp Mercury EFI short-shaft four-stroke tiller-steer outboard engine. Light, easily adjustable for right- or left-handed operation, and able to run independently of a battery despite the inclusion of fuel injection technology, it’s a good match to the Anglapro Core 374STL’s hull.

Starting it, even from cold, is easy, with just two or three pulls needed to fire it into life. Once warm, it’s a single pull to fire it into life.

The default weight of the Anglapro Core 374STL is only 96kg, and the engine is around 45kg. One-up, the Mercury is easily able to punch the hull up onto a plane.

Flat out, and with two people on board, the Mercury was powerful enough to push the Anglapro Core 374STL to a top speed of 24.7 knots in admittedly quite calm conditions.

You’d really have to question the need to go up to the hull’s maximum 20hp rating.

At speed, the hull is easy to control, although pitch it into a tighter turn and it will slip sideways rather than tip in and grip the water, skipping a bit like a stone across the surface. The big, beamy hull tends to sit relatively flat throughout.

We tested the little Anglapro in a variety of conditions at Sydenham Inlet, one of the better locations along Victoria’s far-eastern coastline for chasing black bream. The test included pushing up the Bemm River, navigating the channel to the river’s mouth, and bombing around the estuary’s shallows.

Fuel use on test is a little anecdotal, but even after two days of fairly sustained use at cruising speeds, the 12.5-litre tote tank had lightened by maybe only a couple of litres over a distance of around 14 nautical miles of travel.

At rest, the Anglapro Core 374STL’s vee-nose punt design makes a heap of sense, allowing you to stand right on the bow yet the casting deck below your feet will remain stable and predictable.

The only time you may have a tinge of buyer’s regret is when the wind builds a bit and the flattened bow starts to bounce off the incoming slop with bone-jarring monotony. However, the lazy chines work well to deflect spray, so even running across the wind and chop you’ll cop a little bit of spray, but not as much as you’d expect.

One of the disadvantages of the Anglapro’s straight-line performance with the 15hp Mercury is that you risk swamping the very low-cut transom if you back off the throttle a bit too quickly.

There’s no well ringing the transom to catch any of this water, so it goes straight into the bilge where it can be difficult to bail out by hand – it may be wise to also pack a sponge.

The boat is also extremely easy to beach, with its shallow draft allowing you to sneak right up to shore through very little water, even with two people onboard.

The Anglapro Core 374STL is clearly a boat that you buy with the intention that you make it yours. Anglapro provides the basic template, and you just build on top of that.

The vee-nose punt design is well suited to estuary and enclosed water fishing, providing a wide, stable platform even for two anglers to fish with relative ease.

In basic, no-nonsense form it’s also a quick little package without needing to invest in an outboard engine pushing the maximum 20hp envelope.

Once you add a trolling motor and battery, bimini, icebox, fishfinder and more, though, the sprightly performance edge we saw on test might come off a bit, but it will still get along okay.

It’s a perfect little boat for rivers, lakes and enclosed waters.

Boat supplied by: Anglapro